Airbnb collects landmark $1 Billion in hotel and tourism taxes

At Airbnb, we’ve made the commitment to treat every city personally and help ensure our community pays its fair share of hotel and tourist taxes (TOT). Through this work, we’re proud to have partnered with more than 400 governments around the world to collect and remit taxes. Because of this continued commitment to our host community, we’re excited to announce that we have collected and remitted more than $1 Billion in TOT taxes to date, helping cities and our host community around the globe.

Home sharing democratizes revenue by providing an increasingly valuable source of funding for governments around the world. When Airbnb collects and remits hotel and similar taxes on behalf of our hosts, we help ensure a streamlined process that lightens the administrative burden for hosts as well as state and local governments.

Just this week, we announced that since a voluntary collection agreement was established with the City of Los Angeles in August 2016, more than $100 million has been collected and remitted to the City of Angels.

These agreements are a win-win for local communities, Airbnb hosts and traveling guests alike. Not only does it democratize revenue by contributing important funding to city, county and state budgets, but it streamlines tax payment and collection for hosts and guests. In Pennsylvania, where we’ve collected and remitted $21.2 million, this year marked the three year anniversary of a collection agreement and up the coast in Maine, after a year of collection, we remitted $5.3 earlier this spring. And in 27 counties across New York – nearly half of the state – we have collected and remitted $2.7 million in tax revenue supporting local tourism efforts to ensure that all corners of the Empire State can benefit from the tourism economy.

Agreements like these allow government to realize the full economic potential of short-term rentals while ensuring hosts can pay their fair share.

We recently announced that on the year anniversary of a tax agreement with Iowa, we have delivered $900,000 in home sharing tax revenue on behalf of our host community in the Hawkeye State – important revenue for the state thanks to continued growth among the local Airbnb community. And in Connecticut and Vermont, states in which Airbnb has been collecting and remitted taxes for more than two years, $5.2 million and $7.8 million respectively has gone to the states’ general funds.

Airbnb also collects and remits tourist taxes in many communities across Europe, including Amsterdam, Dortmund, Florence, Lisbon and Milan. And earlier this year, we began collecting and remitting these taxes in 23,000 cities across France.

Local governments agree that tax agreements can be an important tool for governments to generate additional tax revenue:

Wyoming:“The State of Wyoming and our local governments benefit directly from this agreement. The taxes raised are directed to the state general fund, local government coffers and the lodging and tourism boards where the properties are located. The payment of lodging taxes is used to promote tourism in Wyoming communities. The agreement also insures that these rentals are on equal footing from a tax perspective with all commercial lodging establishments.” – Wyoming Department of Revenue Director Dan Noble

Kentucky:“The Kentucky Department of Revenue is happy to be working with Airbnb on the collection and remittance of the sales taxes due the Commonwealth. We appreciate Airbnb’s efforts in support of its Kentucky hosts and look forward to year two of the agreement.” – Kentucky Department of Revenue Commissioner Daniel P. Bork

Colorado: “The State of Colorado appreciates the cooperation of Airbnb to collect these short-term rental taxes on behalf of their hosts. This is a great example of the public-private sector working together in support of fair and equitable tax laws that benefit citizens and strengthen our local communities. This partnership to facilitate voluntary tax compliance helps the State of Colorado to efficiently collect tax revenue that funds essential government functions for our local jurisdictions.” – Colorado Department of Revenue Taxpayer Services Division Director Eric Myers

Arizona:“This groundbreaking agreement is a signal to entrepreneurs across the U.S. that Arizona is a state that empowers innovative companies like Airbnb to set up shop and expand their operations. Making it easier for companies to service Arizonans without jumping through an outdated tax and regulatory system is a win for everyone. It helps our economy grow, these companies expand, and the thousands of Arizonans who are benefiting from this new and exciting economy thrive.” – Governor Doug Doucey

North Dakota: “A formal tax agreement will help simplify the tax collection process for Airbnb hosts in North Dakota. Tourism revenues play a part in the state budget, and this will ensure that the appropriate taxes are being collected in a timely and efficient fashion.” – North Dakota Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger

Jersey City, New Jersey: “We have seen [Airbnb] be a key partner, helping us on the revenue front with dollars similar to what the hotels pay. It has helped us in Jersey City with police, with fire, with services…I do believe that this is the way of the future. It’s another outlet for families. It’s attracted visitors to different neighborhoods that they wouldn’t normally go to. The Airbnb solution that we have here has worked really well for us.” – Steven Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City, NJ

Riverside, California: “Tourism revenue plays a part in the city budget, and this process will ensure that the appropriate taxes from that industry are collected in a timely and efficient fashion. The extra revenue will go towards our city’s General Fund, which pays for most city services, including fire, police, road repair and libraries.” – Mayor Rusty Bailey

We’ve made big inroads around the globe on our efforts to collect and remit taxes on behalf of our hosts but there is still work to be done. We’re always exploring new and unique partnerships on the issue of taxes. In addition to TOT taxes, we’ve recently announced a new project related to host income tax in Denmark. And in Estonia, the technologically innovative announcement that hosts can now automatically report their host earnings to the tax authority via our platform is another way we’re helping our host pay their fair share. We look forward to working with city officials to create tax collection and remittance programs across the globe that will allow these communities to reap the benefits of home sharing.